Environmental Life Cycle AssessmentPSE 476/WPS 576

Lecture 7: Life Cycle Inventory: LCA Stages: Raw Materials

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Fall 2016

Richard A. VendittiForest Biomaterials

North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC 27695-8005

Richard_Venditti@ncsu.eduGo.ncsu.edu/venditti

Raw Materials:

• Primary materials: materials that have not been recycled/reused• Secondary materials: materials have been recycled/reused

• Secondary materials are of especial importance since they can:– Reduce the requirements of primary materials– Have significantly different acquisition processes relative to primary materials:

with different environmental impacts• Different transportation modes• Different collection baskets• Different quality and purity of products

– Reduce waste for ultimate disposal

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Virgin paper vs recycled copy paper:

• Production Process Virgin:

• Production Process Recycled:

• Product performance Virgin:

• Product performance Recycled:

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Virgin paper vs recycled

copy paper:

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Renewable vs Non-renewable Materials:

• A nonrenewable resource is a natural resource which cannot be reproduced, grown, generated, or used on a scale which can sustain its consumption rate, once depleted there is no more available for future needs.

• A renewable resource is a natural resource with the ability to reproduce through biological or natural processes and replenished with the passage of time.

• Trees: • Cows:• Fossil Fuels: • Solar Energy:• Diesel from Soybean Oil:• Gold

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Non-renewable Materials: Minerals

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http://minerals.usgs.gov/granted.html

Every American born in 2008 is estimated to use the following amounts of nonfuel mineral

commodities in their lifetime for their necessities, lifestyles, and health.

Mineral commodity Amount required over a lifetime

Aluminum (bauxite) 5,677 poundsCement 65,480 poundsClays 19,245 pounds

Copper 1,309 poundsGold 1,576 ounces

Iron ore 29,608 poundsLead 928 pounds

Phosphate rock 19,815 poundsStone, sand, and gravel 1.61 million pounds

Zinc 671 poundsData from U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Energy Information Administration; statistical analysis by National Mining Association. Source of information: http://www.mii.org/pdfs/CalculationofmiiBaby.pdf.

How much copper ore do we have left?

• It is not possible to know exactly (uncertainty).– known deposits are being worked and new methods of copper extraction

are being developed e.g. using bacteria to 'eat' the copper out of low grade ore

– some deposits do not contain enough copper to make them economic to extract

– there are many copper deposits that have not yet been found– deposits are still being built up on the seabed

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Non-renewable Materials: Crude OilCrude Oil Definition: A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in natural underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating facilities.

8http://crudeoilpeak.info/bp-statistical-review-2012-the-incredible-growth-of-oily-resources, legend indicates the year that the report was published, G=10^9

Non-renewable Materials: Crude Oil

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Non-renewable Materials: Crude OilAt present consumption, when would proven reserves of

crude oil run out?

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Renewable Materials:

• Agricultural products• Forest biomass• Fish and animals• Water• However, note that any of these materials can be non-

renewable in specific situations/locations under specific conditions (non-sustainable consumption practices)

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Renewable Materials:

http://www.chooseveg.com/environment

30 % of all landmass: raise animals for food

Non-Renewable and Renewable Energy Resources:

• Non-renewable– Fossil fuels (coal and oil)– Natural Gas– Nuclear Power

• Are there examples of renewables for the above list?

• Renewables Advantage: Disadvantage:– Solar energy ____________ _______________– Geo thermal ____________ _______________– Wind ____________ _______________– Hydropower ____________ _______________– Biomass ____________ _______________13

Primary Raw Materials:

• Cultivation, harvesting, replenishing– Farm products– Forest products– Wildlife

• Mined/Collected– Fossil fuels– Ores– Water– Air

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Inputs for Basic Raw Materials:

• Energy Utilization– Electrical energy in kWh– Other energy sources in appropriate units, gallons of fuel, cubic feet of gas– Renewable energy – Non-renewable energy

• Materials Consumed– Pesticides, fertilizers, water, …

• Harvesting/Processing/Transportation• Infrastructures required

– Roads, buildings, drilling rigs, – Equipment to explore, mine, extract, harvest materials

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Outputs for Basic Raw Materials:

• Air emissions• Waterborne emissions• Solid waste• Other environmental releases• Habitat changes• Land use changes• Aesthetic changes• Raw material consumption

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LCA Information for Basic Raw Materials:• US Life Cycle Inventory Database, www.nrel.gov/lci/

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LCA Information for Basic Raw Materials:• Ecoinvent, European LCI database

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LCA Information for Basic Raw Materials: US LCI: Overall Theme

• Which has the least impact on the environment, plastic or paper, cellulose insulation or fiberglass insulation, carpet or wood flooring?

• No final answer, each product has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to its environmental impact.

• The science of sustainability is not exact, but we are working on tools to give us better answers to environmental impact questions.

• The U.S. Life-Cycle Inventory (LCI) Database project is providing essential data to support those tools.

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LCA Information for Basic Raw Materials: US LCI

• Database is composed of LCI data modules. – Inputs from technosphere (The part of the physical environment affected through

building or modification by humans. The man-made world.)– Inputs from nature, called ___________________ flows– Outputs to nature, called ____________________ flows– Outputs of process (products to ___________________)

• Modules can be cradle-to-gate or gate-to-gate or cradle to grave

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LCA Information for Basic Raw

Materials: US LCI

• Note, in some cases, inputs/outputs to nature are qualified

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LCA Information for Basic Raw Materials: US LCI

• Modules as building blocks• The scrap steel processing module calls for electricity per unit

reference flow of product, and obtains inventory data for that electricity from the electricity generation module

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LCA Information for Basic Raw Materials: US LCI

• Aggregate Modules: combined data for several modules into one

– Convenience– Disadvantage: Only available at an aggregated level

• Example: kiln dried softwood lumber from the Pac. NW combines

– Forest resources (forest mgmt and harvesting)– Sawing– Kiln drying– Planer mill – Energy Production– Transportation

• Since the individual modules are also available, then a user can pick and choose individual modules to produce a specific “aggregated module” correct for a certain application23

LCA Information for Basic Raw Materials: US LCI

• Modules supplied without allocations between co-products• Allows the users to apply allocation methods as they see fit and

to undertake sensitivity analysis on allocation methods

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LCA Information for Basic Raw Materials: US LCI

• Database: https://www.lcacommons.gov/nrel/search

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LCA Information for Basic Raw Materials: US LCI

• Example: corn stover, ground and stored

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LCA Information for Basic Raw Materials: US LCI

• Example: corn stover, ground and stored

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LCA Information for Basic Raw Materials: US LCI

• Example: corn stover, ground and stored

• Dummy flow: used as a placeholder for future improvements

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Summary terms

• Primary materials• Secondary materials• Non-renewable• Renewable• Technosphere• Elementary flows• Aggregated model• US LCI• NREL: National Renewable Energy Lab• Ecoinvent• Reference flow• Dummy flow• Product flow29